Welcome to the HMNS Animal Alcove: Where the wild things are

You’ve seen the animals on display in our African and Texas wildlife exhibits. While realistic, none of these mounts actually slither, wiggle or do much of anything, really. But HMNS has a live animal collection that much of the public never even sees. These animals are not on display, but used to educate at our […]

Educator How-To: The magic of magnetic fields

What better way to understand how magnetic fields work than to see them for yourselves? Materials: •    Magnetic field line cards (green) – one per child •    Magnetic nail polish •    Clear nail polish •    Assorted magnets of various shapes and sizes •    Large clear glass playing pieces •    Button magnets (at least ½ inch) […]

A program to give P.A.W.S.: HMNS Sugar Land brings animal audiences to new readers

There are few things more important — or more anxiety inducing — for a child than learning to read. Sounding out and stumbling over worlds can be awkward and a little embarrassing, and adults and authority figures can compound the apprehension for little people learning to love words. One service animal organization recognized this, and […]

Exotic edibles & tongue trickery at Cockrell Butterfly Center: Trip out your taste buds Aug. 28!

The tropical vegetation in the Cockrell Butterfly Center features a number of plants with edible fruits. Some, such as coffee, chocolate, pineapple and papaya, are familiar and readily available in local stores. But most visitors — unless they hail from equatorial climes — are probably  unfamiliar with caimito, jaboticaba, calabash, Barbados cherry or miracle fruit. […]

Copper, corrosion and curbing the damaging effects of Bronze Disease

Editor’s Note: Alexis North is a third-year graduate student in Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials at UCLA. She specializes in the conservation of archaeological objects and is working at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University this summer, preparing a group of objects for display here at HMNS. Read the first blog from […]

Educator How-To: Recycled Plastic Shrinky Dinks

The beginning of the school year is an exciting time for teachers and students alike. We have a quick science activity here that will engage  new students and make your room too cool appropriately cool for school: Shrinky Dinks. There are myriad of ways you can use this activity, so the application is up to […]


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